30-30 club

The 30-30 club is a grouping of players who have reached the 30 stolen base and 30 home run plateaus in the same season.

The term "club" is used rather loosely, as it is generally used by sports writers and fans to group players together under a common heading. The word "club" was likely coined based on the original exclusiveness and rarity of a 30-30 season. Statistically, the 30-30 club is of note due to the pairing of power and speed - two measurements usually isolated from one another. For example, a slugging first baseman would not usually accumulate high stolen base totals. Likewise, a speedy center fielder may be more adept at stealing bases, but may not supply much power. Thus, many players may be able to either steal 30 bases or hit 30 home runs, but only a rare handful may be able to do both.

Trends and Breakdown

Recent trends show that club membership has steadily increased since the 1970s. Ken Williams was the first player to reach the mark in the major leagues in 1922 with 39 home runs and 37 stolen bases. He was the sole member of the club for 34 years until Willie Mays had back-to-back 30-30 seasons in 1956 and 1957. Occurrences then began to increase thereafter, as there were 2 in the 1960s, 5 (4 by Bobby Bonds) in the 1970s, 7 in the 1980s, 20 (5 by Barry Bonds) in the 1990s, and 17 (4 by Alfonso Soriano) in the 2000s. However, with the decline in popularity of the stolen base, that number fell to 10 in the 2010s, by 10 different players, but the regain in popularity of the tactic following rule changes prior to the 2023 season resulted in four players joining the club that year.

Most 30-30 seasons come from players who play the outfield, particularly left and right field. However, several center fielders have enjoyed 30-30 seasons, including Willie Mays, Dale Murphy, Eric Davis, Preston Wilson, Carlos Beltran, Grady Sizemore, Jacoby Ellsbury, Matt Kemp, Mike Trout, Cedric Mullins and Julio Rodríguez. The remaining breakdown is as follows: shortstop (6) (Barry Larkin, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, Hanley Ramirez, Bobby Witt Jr., Francisco Lindor); third base (4) (Tommy Harper, Howard Johnson, |, David Wright); second base (3) (Alfonso Soriano, Brandon Phillips, Ian Kinsler); first base (2) (Joe Carter, Jeff Bagwell). There has not been a 30-30 season recorded by a player who predominately plays catcher or pitcher.

There have been 65 30-30 seasons by 46 different players. Barry and Bobby Bonds account for 10 of those seasons between them.

30-30 Seasons in the majors

40-40 club seasons in bold.

Name	Team	Year	HR	SB
Ken Williams	St. Louis Browns	1922	39	37
Willie Mays	New York Giants	1956	36	40
Willie Mays (2)	New York Giants	1957	35	38
Hank Aaron	Milwaukee Braves	1963	44	31
Bobby Bonds	San Francisco Giants	1969	32	45
Tommy Harper	Milwaukee Brewers	1970	31	38
Bobby Bonds (2)	San Francisco Giants	1973	39	43
Bobby Bonds (3)	New York Yankees	1975	32	30
Bobby Bonds (4)	California Angels	1977	37	41
Bobby Bonds (5)	Chicago White Sox/Texas Rangers	1978	31	43
Dale Murphy	Atlanta Braves	1983	36	30
Joe Carter	Cleveland Indians	1987	32	31
Eric Davis	Cincinnati Reds	1987	37	50
Howard Johnson	New York Mets	1987	36	32
Darryl Strawberry	New York Mets	1987	39	36
José Canseco	Oakland Athletics	1988	42	40
Howard Johnson (2)	New York Mets	1989	36	41
Barry Bonds	Pittsburgh Pirates	1990	33	52
Ron Gant	Atlanta Braves	1990	32	33
Ron Gant (2)	Atlanta Braves	1991	32	34
Howard Johnson (3)	New York Mets	1991	38	30
Barry Bonds (2)	Pittsburgh Pirates	1992	34	39
Sammy Sosa	Chicago Cubs	1993	36	33
Barry Bonds (3)	San Francisco Giants	1995	33	31
Sammy Sosa (2)	Chicago Cubs	1995	36	34
Dante Bichette	Colorado Rockies	1996	31	31
Barry Bonds (4)	San Francisco Giants	1996	42	40
Ellis Burks	Colorado Rockies	1996	40	32
Barry Larkin	Cincinnati Reds	1996	33	36
Jeff Bagwell	Houston Astros	1997	43	31
Barry Bonds (5)	San Francisco Giants	1997	40	37
Raul Mondesi	Los Angeles Dodgers	1997	30	32
Larry Walker	Colorado Rockies	1997	49	33
Shawn Green	Toronto Blue Jays	1998	35	35
Alex Rodriguez	Seattle Mariners	1998	42	46
Jeff Bagwell (2)	Houston Astros	1999	42	30
Raul Mondesi (2)	Los Angeles Dodgers	1999	33	36
Preston Wilson	Florida Marlins	2000	31	36
Bobby Abreu	Philadelphia Phillies	2001	31	36
Jose Cruz, Jr.	Toronto Blue Jays	2001	34	32
Vladimir Guerrero	Montreal Expos	2001	34	37
Vladimir Guerrero (2)	Montreal Expos	2002	39	40
Alfonso Soriano	New York Yankees	2002	39	41
Alfonso Soriano (2)	New York Yankees	2003	38	35
Bobby Abreu (2)	Philadelphia Phillies	2004	30	40
Carlos Beltran	Kansas City Royals/Houston Astros	2004	38	42
Alfonso Soriano (3)	Texas Rangers	2005	36	30
Alfonso Soriano (4)	Washington Nationals	2006	46	41
Brandon Phillips	Cincinnati Reds	2007	30	32
Jimmy Rollins	Philadelphia Phillies	2007	30	41
David Wright	New York Mets	2007	30	34
Hanley Ramirez	Florida Marlins	2008	33	35
Grady Sizemore	Cleveland Indians	2008	33	38
Ian Kinsler	Texas Rangers	2009	31	31
Ryan Braun	Milwaukee Brewers	2011	33	33
Jacoby Ellsbury	Boston Red Sox	2011	32	39
Matt Kemp	Los Angeles Dodgers	2011	39	40
Ian Kinsler (2)	Texas Rangers	2011	32	30
Ryan Braun (2)	Milwaukee Brewers	2012	41	30
Mike Trout	Los Angeles Angels	2012	30	49
José Ramírez	Cleveland Indians	2018	39	34
Mookie Betts	Boston Red Sox	2018	32	30
Ronald Acuna	Atlanta Braves	2019	41	37
Christian Yelich	Milwaukee Brewers	2019	44	30
Cedric Mullins	Baltimore Orioles	2021	30	30
Ronald Acuna (2)	Atlanta Braves	2023	41	73
Julio Rodríguez	Seattle Mariners	2023	32	37
Bobby Witt Jr.	Kansas City Royals	2023	30	49
Francisco Lindor	New York Mets	2023	31	31

Notes and Trivia

• A 20-20 season (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases) is also of note, however it is much more common. A 20-20 season is usually noticed on a local level by sports writers or team officials, especially if the player is a second baseman or catcher. The first and only 20-20 season by a catcher was attained by Ivan Rodriguez in 1999 with 35 home runs and 25 stolen bases.
• There have been five seasons in which four separate players recorded 30-30 seasons. The first was 1987 (Joe Carter, Eric Davis, Howard Johnson, and Darryl Strawberry). The second was 1996 (Dante Bichette, Barry Bonds, Ellis Burks, and Barry Larkin). The third was in 1997 (Jeff Bagwell, Bonds, Raul Mondesi, and Larry Walker). There was another occurence in 2011 (Ryan Braun, Jacoby Ellsbury, Matt Kemp, and Ian Kinsler), and the most recent one took place in 2023 (Ronald Acuna, Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr. and Francisco Lindor). There were no seasons with a 30-30 player between 2013 and 2017 - a rare prolonged drought in the post-1970 era. The closest 30-30 player in 2010 was Carlos Gonzalez with 34 home runs and 26 stolen bases. In addition, other recent seasons where a player did not record a 30-30 season include 1994 - the season shortened by the player's strike. In 1994 Barry Bonds finished with 37 home runs and 29 stolen bases (112 games), while Sammy Sosa also had a shot with 25 home runs and 22 steals (105 games). During the shortened 1981 season, another strike-shortened season, Andre Dawson finished with 24 home runs and 26 steals in 103 games.
• The players with the most 30-30 seasons are Bobby Bonds and his son Barry with 5 each. The only other players with more than 2 are Alfonso Soriano with 4, and Howard Johnson with 3. Players with two 30-30 seasons: Willie Mays, Ron Gant, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, Raul Mondesi, Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, Ian Kinsler, Ryan Braun and Ronald Acuna.
• The rarer 30-40 season has been repeated only by Bobby Bonds (4), Barry Bonds (2), and Alfonso Soriano (2), the 40-30 season only by Barry Bonds (2) and Jeff Bagwell (2), and only Barry Bonds and Alfonso Soriano have had at least one 40-30 and one 30-40 season. There have been only three 30-50 seasons (Eric Davis, Barry Bonds and Ronald Acuna), and no 50-30 seasons. For more elite seasons, see the 40-40 club.
• The 30-30 season has only been accomplished by two players on the same team during the same season twice: the New York Mets in 1987 and the Colorado Rockies in 1996.
• There is a nightclub in Manhattan, New York with the name "Club 30-30", however this name is presumed to be based on the address (which is 30-30), and not the grouping of baseball players. The rapper/CEO Jay-Z owns a nightclub named "The 40-40 Club", also located in Manhattan. The name is based on the 40-40 club, implying a sense of prestige and exclusiveness [1].

First player to reach 30-30 in different minor leagues and international leagues

(far from complete)

• Jeromy Burnitz, Eastern League, 1991
• Jim Steels, Mexican League, 1991
• Jae-hong Park, Korea Baseball Organization, 1996
• Chih-Sheng Lin, Chinese Professional Baseball League, 2015

No one has gone 30-30 in the Taiwan Major League, Arizona Fall League or Hoofdklasse Honkbal through 2014

See also

• 40-40 club
• 300-300 club
• Baseball statistics

External links

• 30-30 Club at Baseball-Almanac
• The 30-30 Club at Baseball Evolution
• MSNBC.com - Soriano Joins 30-30 Club for Fourth Time